Re: Liverpool Thread
I think the ref's coming in for a lot of unfair criticism over the first goal, i just think Turner was naive. At the end of the day, he kicked the ball from the correct spot so why shouldn't that count as the free kick being taken? The ref had signalled that play could resume from the kick, it was already in the correct place, there was no need to kick it back to the keeper. The ref saw it being kicked and therefore thought the free kick had been takenm just because the ball didn't move very far doesn't mean the ref should let them retake it, if he did that then every time a free kick, corner or penalty is fluffed the taker can say "i didn't mean that, let me take it again".
As for the Gerrard elbow, he lead with his arm, he didn't exactly swing it Fellaini style into someone's face, but i've seen players sent off for that so yeh i wouldn't have been surprised if it had been given.
As for the penalty, not for me. The ball was pretty much already out of play when Pepe clattered into him, so no advantage was gained by Pepe and imo that shouldn't lead to a penalty.
We were the masters of our own undoing yesterday with yet more poor defending and bad decision making. Johnson needs to be dropped imo, he's playing like a kid out of his depth at the minute and needs a spell on the sidelines watching Martin Kelly to see how to defend. Agger needs to be brought back into the team as soon as possible imo, but unfotunately it looks like he'll be at left back for the next few weeks and that's a massive waste, he's a brilliant centre half - better than Carragher and Skrtel imo but because he wants to play the ball out rather than smacking it up the field, they'll be preferred. I know Skrtel managed to go on a little run yesterday, but i think that's the first time he's ever done it.
The midfield was anonymous again yesterday, Meireles looks like a top player, Poulsen had a fucking nightmare, i don't necessarily think he's a bad player, i just think that right now Lucas would be a better option in the middle.
Again, Joe Cole started on the left and had a pretty poor game, on the plus side Gerrard did very well, especially in the defensive positions, but he also took his goal well